A generic radial fan is known from DE 102 04 037 A1 which has a fan housing with a rotating fan impeller therein and with a respective intake and outlet opening. The fan impeller is connected to the electric motor by a drive shaft. The electric motor is covered by a cup-shaped cap. Disposed inside the cap is a printed circuit board with electronic components. An air impeller for cooling the electric motor and the electronic components disposed on the printed circuit board is driven by the electric motor.
The volume of flow conveyed by means of the known radial fan is set by the number of revolutions of the electric motor. The electronic components, which are disposed on the printed circuit board inside the cap, are used for this purpose.
Meanwhile, the step is taken to combine a large number of electronic components for control of the electric motor into an integrated circuit (IC), also called a chip. It is problematic here that the amount of heat that develops due to the dissipation loss in the IC being used is relatively high. In order to cool the IC it is known to use metal cooling elements. Without this type of forced cooling, the IC would very quickly heat up to inadmissibly high temperatures and be turned off by a protective circuit by means of which the fan would also be put out of operation. So that the heat absorbed by the cooling elements can be returned to the environment, the cooling elements are often attached to the outside of the housing. The size of the cooling elements used has a negative effect upon the installation height of the radial fan.